Asia marks the fifth anniversary of tsunami that killed almost 250,000

Thousands gather to remember the victims of the 2004 tsunami

Dilip Semeviratna places a candle on the grave of his father, who died in the 2004 tsunami, in Paraliya, 56 miles south of Colombo. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Reuters
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/Reuters

Countries across the Indian Ocean are today solemnly marking the fifth anniversary of the tsunami that killed almost 250,000 people.

In Indonesia's Aceh province, where more than 166,000 died, thousands held prayers in public mosques and private homes. On Thai beaches, Buddhist monks in saffron robes chanted prayers as mourners held pictures of loved ones lost on Boxing Day five years ago.

Hundreds of tourists returned to Phuket to mark one of the worst natural disasters of modern times.

A moment of silence was observed on Patong Beach in Phuket to mark the moment the tsunami struck.

German survivor Ruschitschka Adolf, 73, and his wife Katherina waded into the turquoise sea to lay white roses as a tribute to the dead.

Other ceremonies were expected in the 14 countries hit by the massive wave. In Indonesia's Aceh province, the worst area, thousands of people gathered at mosques and beside the mass graves of victims.

"None of my family members survived in the tsunami," Siti Aminah, 72, said at a burial site near Banda Aceh, Aceh's capital. "My children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, they have all gone and left me alone here."

A gathering of monks in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village on Thailand's Andaman Sea coast that lost nearly half its 5,000 people, was one of hundreds of similar, solemn events across Asia. "All souls from all nationalities, wherever you are now, please receive the prayers the monks are saying for you," Kularb Pliamyai, who lost 10 family members in Ban Nam Khem, said.

Massive reconstruction aid in Banda Aceh has helped build a new city on top of the ruins, and many survivors are only now putting memories of the waves behind them.

Some locals, such as Taufik Rahmat, said they had moved on, helped by having new homes following one of the largest foreign fundraising exercises ever. But pockets of people in his village remain homeless.

"Not all elements have been fulfilled, I think about 80% to 90% of people still don't have proper housing," Rahmat said.

Scores of small hotels and resorts are up for sale in Thailand's Phang Nga province north of Phuket whose forested coastline includes Ban Nam Khem and the serene 19-km (12-mile) Khao Lak beach, two of Thailand's worst-hit areas. After Indonesia, Sri Lanka was the country hardest hit by the tsunami.

Many thousands died there, and half a million were displaced. Sri Lanka observed two minutes of silence to mark the deaths of 34,400 people, with traffic coming to a standstill and state-run television and radio stations halting their regular programmes at 9.25am.